As the world was turned on its head this year, a pandemic we never expected ended up consuming the whole of 2020. Along with it came some additions to our vocabulary which have been used in excess this year, but might not have existed at all in comparison to 2019.
With 2020 coming to a close, we’ve decided to look back on the five words that really weren’t a part of our vocabulary last year, but have now become entrenched in our everyday language.
Lockdown
While being our least favourite word of the year, this word has gained traction worldwide due to the ongoing health crisis. As this word encapsulates the experience shared by millions in 2020, lexicographers have registered around 250,000 usages of “lockdown” just this year.
Overall, the word has affected how we work, sleep and even socialise.
Quarantine
Originating from the plague era where isolation of ships and people were practised as a form of disease prevention. The word has been dug up from the archives as we just might have overused it this year.
Social distancing
Coined first in 1957, the symbolism earlier related to an attitude rather than a physical term, often referred to keeping oneself distant from each other. Now, it has been understood as that the distance needed to be kept in order to curb the spread of the virus.
Work from home
As people globally embrace the new norm, this COVID-stricken world has embraced yet another catchphrase which gained popularity this year as words related to the pandemic in its definitive record of the English language. Used first in 1995 and known to just a few back them, the word has now become a usual way of life.
And last but not least – pandemic
According to Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com – pandemic has been named word of the year and Oxford Dictionaries has reported a surge in the word by 57,000 per cent making it the most used word in 2020.
While the word COVID-19 and coronavirus might be less obvious, the other managed to accompany it in 2020.
So, which word have you used the most this year?
